Anna is a natural born advocate for people and causes she believes in, and her passion for helping her clients get their voices heard makes her a perfect fit for her role at Cooksey Communications. From helping business and government leaders navigate the choppy waters of media relations to helping nonprofits strengthen their social impact, she champions a wide range of clients and brands seeking a competitive edge in the global marketplace.
Anna began her career as a management consultant with PwC Consulting and IBM. In 2005, she founded EarthPeople Media, a sustainability consultancy focused on awareness campaigns and strategies to drive impact and engagement for clients from startups and school districts to Fortune 500 companies and The World Bank. Since 2017, she has brought her expertise to companies (B2B, B2C, SaaS & Web3) across industries and sectors through several leading PR and marketing agencies. At Cooksey, she draws from this experience to advise CEOs and CMOs on strategies for brand awareness and resilience, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and environmental, social, governance (ESG) communications.
A published author, Anna has written the Eco-Leadership column for GreenBiz since 2009 and has contributed to The Guardian, Al Jazeera English, HuffPost, The Christian Science Monitor and The Dallas Morning News. She is a fellow at the Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity at SMU, the co-founder of the Inclusive Economy Consortium, and a board director for the Little Things Matter Foundation and Green Source DFW, which awarded her a Sustainable Leadership Award in 2016.
Anna holds a B.A. in government from The University of Texas at Austin and an M.A. in communication from Johns Hopkins University. She lives with her family in one of the first homes in Dallas to earn LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
What inspires you?
People who have the courage to stand up for what they believe in and the vision to transform ideas into innovations. Helping such people succeed is why I do what I do!
What are your favorite hobbies?
Reading, writing, watching movies, drinking wine, visiting museums, traveling, and on very rare occasion, sailing the BVI (preferably in a 45 ft. catamaran — an upgrade from the 32 ft. sailboat the first time!)
What can’t you do without?
My family and hope that a better world is possible if we care enough to try.
What’s your favorite part of your job?
I love to connect dots from important ideas to people who can bring them to life. Winning the public’s support for a given program, platform or policy depends on increasing appreciation for problems and solutions. For me, this work is particularly compelling when it pertains to sustainability, i.e., “the capacity to endure.” Whether providing employment opportunities, energy-saving innovations or public goods, organizations across sectors offer society many forms of endurance – but nothing happens until somebody is motivated to act. Strategic communication is the vehicle that delivers the information necessary to mobilize action and unlock market potential.
Favorite Quote?
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
–Thomas A. Edison
